I'm considering getting a repair stand, used if I can find one. Aside from the obvious (Park Tool stands), which ones are well-made? I'd like to try and snag a good one on an eBay auction if I can for very little money, but I don't want to waste my time with a piece of junk that will fall apart on me.

One cheapish option is to buy a clamp and pivot assembly by itself and make your own stand. That way "sturdy" is largely up to you. I have a brand-we-shall-not-recommend one bolted to a length of square tube that's welded to a plate that's bolted to the floor. Just like bike shops do :) At ~$100 for the clamp and ~beer for the steel and welding it was pretty affordable. I can't really weld 10mm thich steel with my little TIG unit, single phase power means I can't get the 170A is says on the box.
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МסžMay 20 '11 at 0:59

7 Answers
7

I have a Velomann V2500. They are made in Italy. The stand is great overall. Very stable.

My only complaint is that the clamp is a little bit fussy. Getting the bike into the stand is a bit of a pain. (Once it is in no problems though). If you where working on 20 bikes/day this would cost you endless annoyance however if it is just for your personal use I would defiantly say get it.

I think that a Parks Tools Stand would definatly be better quality but I only paid $109 (Canadian) for this stand.

In Canada you can buy it from MEC (they will ship internationally but it is probably cheaper to order it from somewhere else).

A friend has a Topeak stand. I forget the model but it has "Pro" in the name. My friend likes it and it seems sturdy and functional to me. I've had a Park stand for years and as far as I can tell I won't be replacing it any time soon, if ever.

I also have a Feedback stand from MEC!, I've been using it for a while and 2 things annoy me, the clamp is screwed which takes time to get a bike on and there's shaft that insert into each other to shrink it, the middle ring is loose and at a certain height, the smaller shaft slides down.

If you are on a budget and need a quality repair stand for your garage or workshop, do consider the two-hooks in the ceiling and two bits of rope method.

The idea is that you have two hooks in the ceiling spaced approximately a metre apart. These hooks are the ones that you can get in bike shops for storing bikes with and typically cost less than £10. The rope has to be fairly thick, 20mm or thereabouts. With both pieces of rope you need to put a loop around each end and tied with a simple knot. Length depends on your ceiling height, with one loop going from the hook, around the saddle and back up to the ceiling. The other loops around the stem in the same way. When the bike is suspended from the hooks and rope it needs to be level and with the brakes just below your eye-line.

When working on the bike (whilst it is hanging from the ceiling) there are situations when you will have to steady the bike, there are also a few tasks (such as removing a crank) when the improvised 'stand' may not be up to the forces you apply to it, requiring you to drop the bike to the ground to get 'a bit more purchase).

The two-hooks method gives you better access to the whole bike as there is no stand in the way. This is particularly useful when setting up the gears. Another benefit is that you do not have a stand molesting your paintwork as can happen with those stands that have cheap jaws. Perhaps the greatest benefit though is speed. To hook the seat through the loop of rope and feed the second rope around the stem takes seconds, with a proper posh stand this can take a lot longer, which is not that fun if the bike is heavy or the front wheel flops around a bit.

Or buy one of the ceiling-hanging bike storage systems that work this way. Nore that it does require modifying the building of everwhere you want to work on your bike, so might not always be possible.
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МסžMay 20 '11 at 0:57

Admittedly there could be problems putting hooks in the ceiling of the typical front room and the ceiling is 'a long way away' when working outside. However, I actually much prefer the keep-it-simple hooks from ceiling method to a 'proper stand', the fact that the hooks and rope cost next to nothing is neither here or there. In the UK I have not seen ceiling-hanging bike storage systems on sale, do you have a link to a recommended model?
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ʍǝɥʇɐɯMay 20 '11 at 16:25

I use a similar system for working on my quad, since it doesn't fit the stand, weighs 40kg and the gears are all underneath. We had a couple of these in the bike shop but theyŕe not really worksafe (if you let go of the rope the bicycle falls on you)
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МסžMay 21 '11 at 9:21

I like my Spin Doctor Pro G3 due to the stable tripod base that works well inside and out on a variety of surfaces.

Though it might not be necessary for some, I like that I can swivel the bike around the main vertical post to reposition my working angle on the bike (sometimes I'm on a stool). I don't think it's as easy or even possible to do that with some of the bipodal stands.

Some people do not like the spinning knob used to operate the clamp.

I find that it allows a nice sense of how tight I'm clamping various bike tubes as I close it. When I'm forced to clamp a thin tube on a road bike frame, I'm not quite as paranoid that I'm going to scratch or dent it. I'm also less likely to hold the frame tube at a bad angle and slam a clamp closed onto it because of the gradual but still quick and easy process.